Analysis of misleading pieces of advice from Patrick Mouratoglou and Sascha Zverev

Thank you for making this. I can't believe how people never ever noticed that there is no change in a student's shots in majority of Mouratoglou's videos. Those students are already really good with the shots and he just pretends to make an improvement using some BS jargon.

1:28 "Your hand does the job" - and now it rests inside a bandage because you broke your wrist while hitting a forehand like that.

Thank you! I always thought some of these Mouratoglou's tips were impossible. I also saw that Zverev tip on taking a step inside after the split step and I tried to do it on the court and it was super awkward and uncomfortable.

Patrick’s actual tennis knowledge is much from his self created image. The guy is a joke but he has managed to convince a large group of followers who are clueless.

Vlado, odličan video i analiza, definitivno uvek prvo treba slušati sebe i konsultovati sopstveni osećaj prilikom primene bilo kog saveta! Veliki pozdrav!

I think just to clarify some of the points (which obviously i dont wanna defend all of it cuz some of it is ridiculous) The leg drive one - I think he’s trying to teach her that she shouldn’t “jump” if you watch the full video she looks like she’s leaving her feet trying to get power. He’s trying to get her to use her weight transfer and leg drive instead of jumping, just in so many words.

Sasha demonstrates a gravity step in this video. Sometimes referred to ad a drop step. It is a legit movement when an explosive movement is needed. In the counter examples, the gravity step was not employed becuz they were not required in those instances. Other advice shown here is also taken out of context.

i'm so glad you made this video - i've been saying PM is spewing a crock%of%shit for a couple years now - just utter nonsense. use a gopro 8 (+) and video yourself at 240 and closely examine what you are doing (or not) and adjust. results will be better than applying nonsense advice posted to YT at frame rates less than 30.

It’s weird because I noticed Patrick’s BS sometimes, but it needs to be noted that he brought Baghdatis to a major final, and majorly developed Gauff and Rune’s games, who became Grand Slam and Masters 1000 champions, respectively.

At 1:39 that “roof” thingie really bothers me… 😊

Thank you for debunking some of his misconceptions.

Another piece of tennis advice that I disagree with is hitting up on the ball on a kick serve 7 o’clock to 1 o’clock. The strings are not on the ball long enough to go from 7 to 1 o’clock on the ball. Also, if you’re hitting up on the ball at the speed the pros hit it so over the baseline. Spin and gravity will not bit down in the service box at pro speed. While hitting up your timing would have to be god-like for the top of your racquet frame to miss contact, let the ball drop a little more to make contact with the strings just before the bottom frame of the racquet makes contact. No way that can happen. What I really think happens is people swing up towards contact on a kick serve but the racquet at contact is slightly headed down.

Thanks Vlad, I learned a few things 👏🏻

Keep up with these analisys their are great!

some of the advice i agree with but it's not applicable for every situation; e.g., not using legs to add more spin makes sense for certain height, whereas you can use explosion with the legs into the shot that adds spin on others

He had another one where he was telling a kid to plant his front foot before hitting a volley. He pulled that one at least. He is a good talent scout and the coaches at his academy don’t teach the crazy stuff from what I’ve seen.

Great video

You are right . These are all for more followers

Patrick’s understanding of split steps is appalling. Thanks for making this video.

Patrick is just a mentality coach. All his successful "students" already had all the mechanics it takes to reach the top. He has created this misleading image of himself by being the "coach" of these top players - but he never developed any mechanical aspects with them. This is why you see none of them actually using his 'tips'...

Really great video. I noticed numerous times that Mouratoglou gives advice that is absolutely opposite to what the top players actually do. As a tennis player myself, I don't get why a coach would tell his students something that is so evidently not true. I think Mouratoglou has gained his reputation thanks to good marketing rather than by being an actually good coach. Unfortunately, due to his renome, his weird recommendations influence a large number of people, who usually don't recognize that the advice is in fact wrong.

Someone had to make a video about it I keep commenting that what he teaches is so wrong and people keep saying that l am jealous

Hmmm ... I think Patrick M. knows what he's talking about.

In my opinion, tennis is a move and hit sport, so you need to compare effective technique with other hit and move sports. The perfect example is boxing, and by starting to box, you remove the racket, and all the myths about the role of the arm and wrist and lag bla bla bla. In boxing you learn that the back foot and hip is the powerhouse and ignites the power, the upper body and arm transfers the power, they follow along, but never generate any power on their own. Also what boxing teaches you, footwork with a balanced body frame, you’re deep, but you’re stable, back rests on tailbone, knees a bit bent for the hip to move more freely. Alpine skiing also teaches you about the importance of a balanced frame, Jannik Sinner was an active skier, and shows the advantage it gives him. How to transfer boxing to tennis, change the angle of your feet, chest out, and pick up a racket. If you have time to load, I would say that the angle of hip, knees and feet on a forehand is about 45 degrees, or you should feel that the foot and hip explode towards the ball, NOT towards the net. It’s enough that the upper body and arm rotate towards the ball, without generating any power on their own. On the one handed backhand it’s a bit different angle, and I know nothing about the two handed backhand. When you can stop and load, the weight of the backfoot actually moves over to the front foot, but AFTER the shot, not during the shot, and not towards the net but a bit sideways, easy to see on an open stance by Djokovic and Federer, but hard to explain. The front never has a power role when it comes time to hit the ball, only a stablizing support role, 80-90% back foot. When you hit on the move you still initiate power from the back foot, but you land on the front foot. What happens when we generate power from the back foot, and the upper body and arm just follows along? Fewer moving parts makes you consistent and confident, for example the arm just moves based on power generated by your feet and core, instead of thinking, shoulder, elbow, arm and wrist action bla bla bla. But where I’m personally lost, the serve toss, I’m not using the body correctly in that motion. Happy easter everybody!

I will say one thing in defense of Patrick (even though I completely agree with you on some points, like when he says "no" and "great" to two pretty identical moves): As a coach myself I've found that you can give the "wrong" advice because it might work out for a specific student with a specific problem. An example would be you have 2 players: one hits a very flat forehand that has zero spin, the other hits a super weak forehand, but with lots of spin. In this case you might tell the first player to really hit from low to high and try to brush up on the ball and you might tell the second player to not go from low to high and instead try to plow through the ball as much as possible. Those two completely opposite advices might end up with 2 players having the same swing because they started from two completely different places. So the advice for the girl to "stay under the roof" might be perfectly fine if she was jumping up to early, because thinking about not jumping up might actually make her do it at the right time when it comes automatically. Same with people who overrotate to early in a forehand or serve. Telling them to not rotate might make them rotate at the exact right time because it forces them to delay it until it comes automatically. So Patricks advice to go forward at contact while running sideways doesn't necessarily mean he actually wants that to happen, but if the players TRIES to do it they end up with a more stable base at contact. But like you said, we have to use logic and common sense to know if the advice applies to everyone or is said to correct a specific mistake for a specific player.

LOL....I happen to know some GRAND SLAM CHAMPIONS of the past...won't name names of course, but I have no reason to lie since I'm also anonymous on here. Let us say they think Mouratoglou....overrated.

Lots of noise, nonsense, bollocks and bullshit but I do agree with one of Mouratoglou’s instructions at a fundamental level: Don’t use leg push (up: in a forced/theatrical and non-energetic manner) to botch your topspin forehand. And yes: Use critical judgement (logic and physics) and common sense (facts, analogies and examples from other walks of life and everyday experience of biomechanics and kinesthetics). Also pay attention to the detail, similarities and differences between top players’ techniques. And first of all, observe King Roger with a keen eye!

Mouratoglou makes no sense